Just Your Type
by AnimeWolfGirl9
Summary: When Mika is forced to attend a Halloween party with his brother, he ends up paired with another vampire when the school function gets a bit chaotic. (Modern AU) (Mika X Krul)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from Seraph of the End. Everything belongs to their respective owners.**

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Just Your Type

Mika never would have expected the night to go like this. If anything, he would have rather stayed home, but his brother's persistence finally convinced him… or at least, that's what he had thought. He almost wished he would have known what was going to happen before they came to the party: he certainly would have called the whole thing off if he had.

"Yu-chan, I think we should just turn back." The blonde insisted, practically being pulled down the road by his dark-haired brother. To make things worse, moving wasn't necessarily easy. _Especially in this outfit…_

"Don't back down now, Mika! You said you would go with me, even just for a bit." Yu stopped pushing him for a moment, giving him a look. Alright, it definitely was because of his brother's pleading that he had agreed to go, but… The dark-haired teen, seemingly picking up on his negative thoughts, lightly head butted Mika; causing the fluffy ears the former was wearing to smack him as well. "Are you nervous? You have to learn how to talk to others or else they might think you're a recluse."

Yu's gaze was filled with slight concern, but his words were for the better. Mika had always been slightly shy during school, growing less likely to talk to others outside of Yu and his handful of friends as he got older. In fact, it seemed like the blonde teen was always pulled into something by his twin brother…

"I know," Mika stated, his gaze cast towards the ground. He didn't want his brother to worry, but he couldn't help the slight disconnection to others that he felt. Maybe it was just natural for him to feel that way. His blue gaze traveled to something a few feet away from Yu as he let out a sigh. "Seriously though, if you want me to learn how to socialize properly, why bring me to… a Halloween party?"

Yu's face lit up a bit at the words, making the outfit he wore – a werewolf – look more like an innocent puppy. "Because! You could make some new friends and it's a party! Our school doesn't have very many either way."

Mika let another sigh slip. _I'm fine with the friends I have now._ His thought was silent, but Yu seemed to pick up on it anyway. His brother reached behind the blonde's head, pulling a hood to cover the teen's face. The blonde's eyes narrowed slightly, almost like a warning. The act, however, only caused the dark-haired boy to laugh.

"See, you're making the face! _This_ is why you had to be a vampire." His brother's words were a conclusion to an argument they had earlier that day. They had been deciding on costumes to wear – with Mika being less enthusiastic – and Yu had made a list on reasons why the blonde should go as a vampire.

"The cape just gets in the way though. It's harder to walk around in." Mika lowered the hood from his head, trying to sound like he wasn't complaining, but so far he wasn't having happy thoughts about the party. His brother just gave him a smile, turning around to face the school in front of them.

"How hard do you think it is to walk around with a fake tail?" The other boy joked, flicking the fluffy appendage attached to a belt around his waist. The sight - which once again reminded the blonde of a puppy with paws that were too big - caused him to laugh.

"Maybe we should keep count of how many times it gets stepped on?" The teen suggested, a slightly devious smile on his face. Yu simply pouted for a moment, but his mood soon turned excited again.

"Now, let's go have some fun!" The dark-haired boy shouted, causing Mika to almost want to hide again. _Yu-chan can be too loud sometimes… and that attracts too much attention…_ Apparently the blonde had made some sort of outward motion, causing Yu to give a sheepish smile. "And besides, if we want to go home, it's right across the street."

The two teens looked over their shoulders at the small house behind them. The neatly trimmed, fenced-in yard made their home look almost picture perfect; a place that they could go back to if reality got too chaotic. Yes, Mika supposed they could always leave the party at any time.

 _I'll try though, for Yu-chan._ Mika silently promised, nodding as an answer to his brother. The dark-haired boy smiled again as they walked through the doors. The initial entryway and branching hallways were quiet, but music echoed through the hall leading to the gymnasium: a sure sign that the party had already begun. The two brothers stood in the entryway for a moment, the light of the setting sun creating shadows on the floor.

"Are you having second thoughts?" Mika looked over at his brother, finding the other teen frozen in place. His posture was somewhat relaxed, but the blonde could sense anxiety in the teen's green eyes. At his question, Yu laughed nervously.

"Of course not," the dark-haired boy denied any fear and strode forward. Mika knew that his brother was most likely thinking along the lines of 'it's our first party, so how bad can it be?' _A lot worse than you think, probably._

The blonde teen hurried to catch up to his brother, hearing him mumble something softly. "For Yoichi's sake, I hope he fell ill." The murmur caused a slight ripple in Mika's memory. Yu had met Yoichi a few months earlier and often kept the younger boy – who made many mistakes and was scared easily - out of trouble.

As they pushed through the doors leading to the gymnasium, Mika silently wished that Yu's proclamation was true – even if it were for the younger boy's sake. Many decorations were hung from the ceiling and bleachers, and a fog machine somewhere in the room coated the floor with mist. As the blonde got a good look at some of the more disturbing decorations – hanging and full body figures of zombies and other gruesome figures – he knew this certainly wasn't themed for a younger audience.

"I know it's fake and all, but why go to such a strong extent?" Mika wondered aloud as they waded through the groups of costumed peers already in the room. Yu was still close by, but he was struggling a bit in getting past the crowds. On the other side of the gymnasium, a haunted house was set up, with screams coming from inside occasionally; this only proved to solidify his confusion.

"As long as there are no clowns," Yu muttered with a shiver, still close enough that they could hear each other. They were slowly getting closer to the refreshments, which didn't seem to be too crowded. The dark-haired teen's gaze swept across the room, as though looking for aforementioned clowns, but quickly became exasperated. "Never mind, I take it back. As long as stupid Guren isn't here, I'm fine."

The sudden change of mood caused the blonde to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Ichinose-sensei?" he repeated, blue gaze skeptical. _I thought the reason for these parties was partially to forget about your instructors and school work._

"Yeah, him." His brother nodded with certainty, frantically glancing around the room again. "I bet he would dress up as a clown just to try and scare me." Yu's face grew bothered at the scene that was most likely playing through his mind, which prompted another remark of "stupid Guren."

Mika let a sigh slip, wondering why he wasn't surprised. Yu always seemed to be paranoid about that particular instructor, but the blonde hoped that the other teen wouldn't let it get to him too much. "It'll be fine." He commented, tempted to pull his brother's fake tail but decided not to.

Yu nodded, still looking on guard, but let out another exclamation just as quick. "Oh no," he muttered, his green gaze in the direction they were walking. Mika followed his gaze, spotting a familiar figure standing by the refreshment tables.

The figure spotted them and waved, seeming fully relieved by their appearances. "Ah, Yu-kun, Mika-kun!" The figure – Yoichi – seemed incredibly small amidst the small crowd moving in and out of the room. He was dressed completely in black with a small pair of wings attached to his back. As soon as they were close enough to the younger boy, Yoichi hugged Yu, a terrified expression on his face.

"Y-Yoichi! Get off!" Yu shouted, trying to pry the other boy off of him with little success. The boy only seemed to cling tighter to his brother, tousled brown hair hiding his face.

"I was starting to wonder if I came to the right place! What is this even?!" Yoichi loosened his grip just a little, giving Yu enough time to escape. The brown-haired boy pouted slightly at this as he drew his arms closer to his sides, growing even smaller. _It's like he's going to disappear entirely._ Mika, knowing that his presence seemed to have a calming effect on the boy, went to stand next to him.

Yoichi's words finally seemed to register in Yu's mind. "What do you mean, 'where is this'? It's the Halloween party!" Yu stared at his frightened friend in disbelief, but Yoichi's expression only grew more confused.

"Really? I thought we were all supposed to dress up and talk peacefully." The brown-haired boy's answer seemed almost unbelievable, but that was the other thing about Yoichi: he was incredibly naïve. _He must have misread the announcement._

"No, that's-" Yu started to explain, but knew it wouldn't do much good. He stopped, taking a look at the younger boy's 'outfit.' "What are you-?"

"A bat." Mika cut in quickly before his brother could finish. This earned him a stare that meant 'please repeat.' "He's a bat."

"Ah," The dark-haired boy made a noise of understanding before smiling. He moved closer to his friend, seemingly excited about something. "So, you actually figured out what to wear, right?!"

The exclamation was cut off by the younger boy, who shook his head. "No, I thought – since there were bats on the announcement – we were all supposed to dress as bats, but I guess that's not the case." Yoichi looked back and forth between the two brothers, taking in their costumes. The words he said next were with a genuine smile. "You both seem to fit the roles, though."

Mika was half-tempted to hide his face with the hood of his cape, but he knew it wouldn't do much good. _Time to change the subject,_ he thought, glancing around at the table of treats. Halloween themed snack and drinks were organized into groups, but nothing seemed really appetizing. The blonde was brought out of his observations by a sudden thought.

"Yoichi, were you waiting for us?" The vampire asked, glancing over at the boy. Truly, he did seem terrified, shrinking closer to Mika as he stared at the decorations. Hazel eyes glanced at him upon hearing the question.

"Ah, yeah." The boy nodded, looking at the two of them again. "I wasn't sure where we were meeting and thought I would come in, but I kind of got stuck over here…"

"You got stuck…? You know you could have just left, right?" It was Yu who questioned the boy this time, a slightly concerned look on his face. Yoichi's eyes darted to the other end of the room as he bit his lip.

"Well, I tried…" he hesitated off, glancing in the direction of the door the brothers had come through. "But the scary creatures are everywhere. The skeletons were guarding the door and the only other exit is at the end of the haunted house… I feel like I'm surrounded and my phone died so I couldn't necessarily contact my parents…"

As the younger boy's argument trailed off, Mika shared a glance with his brother. _He's afraid of the decorations?_ Yu gave a slight nod as an answer before he placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Yoichi, you do know they are fake, right?" Yu's question was out of concern for his friend, but it was the most serious that he had ever heard from the dark-haired teen.

"Yes, but…" Yoichi's gaze had been cast towards the ground in slight embarrassment, but he suddenly jerked backwards, another look of fear on his face as he let out a small exclamation of fright. "AH!"

The boy's eyes widened as he jumped backwards, his gaze focused solely on a peer who was dressed in a cloak, a strange mask on his face. Mika had to admit that the costume was a bit unsettling for him, so it must have been many times worse for the younger boy.

Yu, who was surprised by his friend's sudden change of mood, tried to figure out what was wrong. "Yoichi, what-?" The dark-haired boy's question was cut off when he turned around, spotting the cloaked figure as an exclamation came from him as well. "WHOA!"

Mika, who by now felt like inwardly smacking himself in embarrassment, let out another sigh – _how many is that?_ – as he addressed the newcomer. "Would you mind giving us a few moments? He's kind of frightened." The blonde watched as the figure walked away from the table, shrugging in indifference.

Turning his attention to his two friends, Mika almost couldn't believe everything that had happened so far. "Seriously, Yu-chan?" he addressed his brother first, giving him a look. The dark-haired boy wasn't necessarily helping poor Yoichi's case here…

"Oh, sorry. It was just a bit surprising, that's all." Yu then turned to attend to his friend, who was gripping the table behind them with all his might. Yoichi certainly seemed like he had seen better days. "Hey, Yoichi, he's gone now."

"O-okay." The brown-haired boy stuttered, seeming as though he would be alright. A glance at his brother told him that Yu was still concerned. _Maybe we should get Yoichi out of here._ No sooner did Mika have the thought, Yoichi's eyes closed and he promptly fainted, bringing the table of refreshments down with him.

The blonde's eyes widened at the commotion, knowing now why his brother had seemed so concerned. Several other people came forward as a girl with twin tails helped their friend to a chair by the wall. Yu and Mika stood still for a few moments, the latter still shocked.

"He just… fainted." Mika stated calmly, trying to figure out what to do to help. His brother stood beside him, nodded once as he sighed.

"Yep." The dark-haired teen moved towards the now-collapsed table, but thought of something else. He turned back towards the blonde and led him towards the opposite wall. The strange actions caused Mika to become confused.

"What-?"

"I'll go help with the table, and you can go socialize." Yu's answer didn't necessarily clear things up. Mika caught his shoulder before he could move across the room.

"I can help." At the blonde's insistence, Yu shook his head, a slight frown on his face.

"You came to socialize, right? I'll help clean up and be back." The dark-haired teen went to move again, but the blonde didn't release his shoulder. This caused Yu to go to extreme measures: he led Mika towards another group of peers as he talked. "The first time Yoichi did that, it was in Health class. You don't even want to know why."

Anything else that Mika could have said was shocked into silence by what his brother then said. The other teen seemed to spot someone and led the blonde towards said person. "Oh look, here's another one of your type: a vampire. Now wait here and I'll be back!"

Yu's words caused Mika to stay still next to the person his brother had – actually – shoved him off on. The blonde couldn't help the blush that rose to his face. _Nice choice of words, Yu-chan. One of my type?_

As Mika looked over at the new occupant he was expected to talk to, he observed that she was – indeed – dressed as a vampire. Long, light pink hair was pulled into two ponytails at the sides of her head. She was wearing a frilled, off the shoulder blouse and short black skirt. A red and black cape hung off her shoulders, similar to his own white and black one.

Mika glanced over at where Yu was now helping clean up the refreshments, but another motion a little ways off caught his attention. A girl in a brightly colored, fluffy outfit was observing his brother. The strange shade of her purple hair was what had originally got his attention, but the fact that she was watching his brother with great interest caused some amount of annoyance to run through him. _Is she really watching him? Why?_ As the girl then moved towards the dark-haired teen, Mika came to a creepy conclusion. _Never mind, she's stalking him. I have my own problems to deal with either way._

A strange silence hung in the air with the two vampires taking glances at each other every few seconds. The girl hardly looked old enough to come to this party – it was for high school students – and she was at least a head shorter than him. Mika didn't normally judge people, and he didn't want to judge now, but he also didn't want to deal with an elementary student.

The girl was scrutinizing him with her crimson gaze and, after several more seconds of awkward silence, she spoke. "What do you want?" her voice was clear and had a slightly harsh tone to it. The word 'demanding' came into his mind. When she spoke, he could clearly see the fangs that she wore with her costume. They seemed very well made for an accessory.

Mika considered not answering, but if he told Yu later how things went, then the dark-haired boy would probably get angry if he didn't even try. "My brother's friend fainted and so he left me here to wait." The blonde didn't see any point in sugarcoating the truth. She would probably hear at one point or another – probably from an older sibling that went to their school, if she was in elementary grades – either way. The girl didn't reply right away, which prompted him to try with another subject. "You're a vampire too, right?"

The reason he even bothered asking was that her choice of dressing was a bit… different than most female vampires in modern media. It was almost like it was her own style, but it fit somehow. The girl responded to his question in a very unexpected way – her eyes narrowed dangerously as she turned to face him.

"A 'vampire'?" her tone seemed to border anger as she looked up at him. Her gaze scanned him for a few moments before she continued. "I am not simply a 'vampire.' I am the Vampire Queen. Bow before your queen, commoner!"

Her words startled him inwardly. _Is she one of those people who take roleplaying too far?_ The thought occupied his entire mind as he stared at her, almost not comprehending what she told him. The blonde hadn't expected her to take this seriously; the next action she took proved him wrong.

Apparently, Mika had a time limit. He hadn't known about said time limit beforehand, and he hadn't been told either, so the situation seemed entirely unfair. The first sign had been a subtle twitch of her hand, which then clenched into a fist at her side. His gaze had been drawn to the small movement, which left him entirely unprepared for what came next: the girl's foot swiftly kicked him in the shin. Hard.

Mika was surprised at the amount of pain he felt; his injured leg dropped to the ground, leaving him basically – as she had said – kneeling. _Yep, she's definitely demanding._ He hadn't been able to help the small exclamation of pain that escaped him as he fell.

The girl studied his position with a cold gaze. "If you would have kneeled on your own, then you wouldn't have had to deal with the pain." Her hand ran through one of her long ponytails absentmindedly, almost like she was used to physically abusing strangers she just met. _And whose idea was it that I talk with this person?!_

Mika reminded himself to bother Yu about it later; the dark-haired teen had yet to return, and the blonde had to remind himself that not much time must have passed. Either that, or Yoichi had made more of a mess than he first thought.

Despite the fact that the blonde vampire was now kneeling on the ground with a throbbing shin, he couldn't help the next question that came from his mouth. "Are you even old enough to be at this party? You should be at home, studying for entrance exams and-" Alright, it was definitely because of the pain that he was getting short on his temper, but the night hadn't necessarily gone well so far. His statement, however, was cut short by another swift kick to his injured leg.

"How dare you address your Queen like such?!" Her small, angry outburst faded quickly as she looked away from him, an embarrassed blush on her face. "I am old enough to be here. I'm fifteen. Aren't you too old to be here?"

"I'm sixteen." His answer was quick due to the lingering effects of pain in his leg. He was still kneeling, which annoyed him to no end, but he knew that if he tried to stand up now, it would only end in more embarrassment. The girl turned around, eyeing his stuck position before she spoke.

"What is your name?" The question was simple, and Mika was surprised she hadn't added 'commoner' to it, but it made him kind of glad. It was almost like she had enough humanity to take into account his suffering. _That she clearly caused. Ironic._

"Mika." The blonde stated his nickname, still a bit out of breath. His leg was starting to feel a bit numb, making him wonder if she was capable of breaking a bone. It was quite possible, but he hoped not.

"Well, Mika." Her stance turned regal again as she started down at him this time. "I suppose your punishment has been dealt. I am the Vampire Queen, Krul Tepes."

Her outstretched hand made him skeptical, but he took it after a few moments of hesitation, mainly because he was scared of getting kicked again. She struggled to help him up, but they eventually made it over to a set of chairs near the haunted house. Over near the refreshments table, he saw Yu talking with the purple-haired girl from before… or it looked more like arguing. It seemed like Yoichi had woken up as well; the brown-haired boy was talking with the teen girl who had helped him.

 _And here I am, stuck with the Vampire Queen._ The thought was so absurd that he let a small laugh slip, and strangely enough, he was alright with the situation. Krul looked over at him in mild interest at his laugh.

"So, I got dragged here with my brother. That's him." Mika pointed to his dark-haired sibling across the room. The pink-haired girl followed his gaze, her eyes landing on – who he hoped – was Yu.

"Is that so?" her small utterance caused him to look at her. She was studying his brother as well, her eyes narrowing a bit. But at that distance… _Maybe she's near-sighted?_ "You two have some semblance."

 _That's… nice to know._ Even though they were twins, the blonde often worried that he would one day lose sight of his brother, or that Yu would get so far away and leave him behind. It was an irrational fear; they were very close as siblings so Yu wouldn't leave him, but it always remained.

"I'm not necessarily here by choice, but I'm kind of glad." Krul's voice snapped him out of his negative thoughts. Her words seemed almost thoughtful, causing him to wonder if he shouldn't have heard her. The Vampire Queen noticed his glance and continued.

"It was either that I come to this party, or I had to babysit my little brother at home. He should be around here somewhere." Krul scanned the crowds around them, a small frown appearing on her face a moment later. "He's probably playing some sort of prank…"

"He would do that at a public event?" The very thought of it caused Mika to almost become guarded again. Some pranks could get dangerous quickly, but hopefully this one was harmless.

At his question, Krul shrugged – the most unroyal thing she had done since he met her. "It depends on if he's bored." The pink-haired girl seemed entirely interested in the blonde vampire now; her gaze was now on him again as she thought.

"W-what?" he couldn't help the small stutter, but Mika was quickly becoming uncomfortable under her direct gaze. She seemed happy that he had asked, which quickly told his instincts that he shouldn't have.

"Mika, I deem you worthy enough to be my…" She trailed off for a moment, thoughtful as she gazed at him. Mika prepared for… he was quite sure what. _Prepare for the worst._ "You can be my attendant."

"A-attendant?" He repeated the word, barely keeping the surprise out of his voice. The teen was glad that he had succeeded though; she probably would have kicked him again if not.

"Yes," she said the word like it was the simplest thing in the world as she stood up. "Now, let us survey the kingdom."

Her latter statement caused him to almost laugh; was that her way of asking if he would walk around with her? She seemed to be expecting him to stand up, but he sat for a moment longer, still trying to be gentle with his healing leg.

"I'm not sure-" the blonde vampire started to say, but stopped when she leaned close to him, her gaze narrowing. It was hard to ignore the fact that she was really, _really_ close to him, and the fact that she was somewhat cute in a scary way didn't help his heart rate.

 _Where are these thoughts even coming from?!_ He was slightly startled at the state, or lack of control, he had on his mind. The surprise he felt, and any further thought, was quickly extinguished by her next taunt.

"Are you really hurt so much by a girl smaller than you that you can't even walk around? Should I call the ambulance?" His blue gaze widened at her words as annoyance streaked through him. Mika took a calming breath and let it out slowly as he stood up. Did his leg still hurt? Somewhat, but he wouldn't let her have the satisfaction of taunting him about it.

Krul's lips curved into a pleased smile, revealing her fangs once more. It would have been a strangely attractive sight, had she not just insulted him moments before. "Let us be off then."

Mika trailed a few inches behind her, hoping his gait didn't seem tainted by her kicks. He briefly wondered if this was the best thing to do – wandering off when Yu wouldn't know where he was – but it couldn't have been too bad, right?

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Hello everyone! I'm back~! Sorry for my somewhat extended absence of this archive, but I've been working on a lot of larger projects for Seraph of the End, some of which I am hoping to get out sooner. This fanfiction could be one of them, depending on how much you enjoyed the first chapter. Originally, this was just going to be a Mika X Krul one shot, but I started to have more and more fun with the backstory whenever I added more people in so I'm wondering: would anyone like to see this continue? So far I have maybe… four other chapters planned based on different people's view points during the party (which includes the rest of the Shinoa Squad plus a combined party at the last chapter). Sorry if Mika and Yu's personalities seem a bit swapped as well (with Yu being more outgoing), but I figured getting the chance to write a teenage Mika with a similar personality to the show would be interesting. Either way, please tell me what you thought in a review and I hope you enjoyed this~!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	2. Chapter 2

**killerbull27:** Haha, we'll have to see about that~! This chapter is in Yu's POV, but I sadly can't include Yoichi's for this (next chapter is with him, but in someone else's POV for important reasons).

 **laylaMT:** Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoy!

 **Guest:** Thank you, although I think that's a request I can't grant… I'm glad you liked the story so far though!

 **Melody Violet:** Yeah she has her reasons :D Who knows for sure though?

 **CUBBIES ARE LIFE:** I'll try the best I can~!

 **TheCyver:** Thanks for subscribing! I'm relieved that it's something new!

 **:** Thank you for reading despite the language barrier! It's always nice to know that others enjoy it!

 **nekoshy13:** Here's the next chapter! It's not with Mika or Krul, but we'll get back to them~

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Magical Run-in

If anyone at his school was going to faint from fright, Yu had expected that it would be Yoichi. _And at a Halloween party too!_ The dark-haired teen hadn't been too surprised, but the embarrassment his friend would feel when this was all over caused him to worry. The fact that he had to leave his twin brother Mika with a complete stranger also didn't help.

As the teen bent down to pick up several cookies that had fallen from the table, he noticed something different. _Speaking of strangers…_ Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a purple-haired figure watching him. _No, she's not entirely a stranger._

On closer observation, Yu decided that the girl looked slightly familiar. From where, he wasn't sure specifically, but he had definitely seen her around school. Said purple-haired figure seemed to notice that he was looking at her; she made her way towards him with a slightly rushed gait. The dark-haired teen wasn't quite sure what to make of the scene, but was thankful when she started to help clean up the mess as well.

"Your friend made quite a mess, didn't he?" the girl asked a little too cheerfully as she grabbed a roll of paper towels, rubbing at the spilled punch on the floor. Yu knew that the drink was probably dyed with some sort of coloring, but the way the light glinted made it look more like blood. A slight dizziness came over him, but he quickly shook his head, opting to answer the girl beside him.

"Sorry for the intrusion," he mumbled an apology, glancing at where Yoichi was sitting against the wall. "I didn't think he'd actually faint again…"

The second part of his sentence was meant to stay in his mind as an afterthought, but it came out of his mouth before he could stop it. At the teen's words, the girl's face lit up a bit.

"Ah, so that's the kid that everyone talks about." At first, the purple-haired girl's words confused him; he stopped his work and stared at her for a moment. Why did she look so mischievous all of a sudden…? Unaware of his inner struggle, the figure kneeling beside him continued with excitement. "He's the boy from the famed Health class incident when-!"

Her tone seemed just a bit too loud and – where she was heading with the conversation – Yu knew that it would mean trouble. He quickly covered her mouth with one of his gloved… err, pawed… hands. "Keep it down!" the teen shushed her before she could continue.

Yu didn't realize that he kept his hand on her mouth for a moment too long; her brown-tinted eyes looked back and forth between his hand and his face, shock clearly on her face. The dark-haired teen removed his hand from her mouth with lightning speed once her eyes grew wide.

Yu opened his mouth to apologize and explain the situation – after all, Yoichi was more than a bit sensitive to the topic – but the girl beat him to it with a very strange reaction: one gloved hand was clutched over her heart while she bent her head, tears at the brink of her eyes.

 _What did I do?!_ The teen shouted in his mind, feeling anxiety well up in him. He didn't think he had done anything wrong, but maybe she was just overly shy. Then again, she had been the one to approach him…

"How could you?!" Her face was still hidden, but one of her hands began to shake. She sounded extremely upset, causing Yu's anxiety to rise further. _I just seem to be stuck with all the strange commotions at this party!_

"What did I-?" he began to ask, knowing that his concern was probably written all over his face. Even if he hadn't done something wrong, it was clear that she was upset by something. If he could make it right, then he wanted to at least try.

"How could you violate me like that? Touching a young maiden at a social event!" Her tone had risen, causing some of the other helpers to look over at the scene. Some had looks of confusion or pity while others glared at the dark-haired teen, causing some inward panic to appear. _I did what?!_

"I… uh… eh… wha-?!" a whole stream of unintelligent noises came from Yu's mouth. He was pretty sure that – if Mika saw the scene – he would be laughed at for the long-standing bad habit.

Another bad habit that both brothers had was looking for each other in times of stress or confusion. This so happened to be one of those times, causing Yu's green gaze to search out where he left his brother. The scene that greeted him, however, was partially cut off and not expected at all.

The blonde 'vampire' was standing right where his brother had left him – which was a relief – but Yu soon realized that Mika was falling like a stack of dominoes. For whatever reason, he wasn't sure, but it looked like his brother was in trouble.

"Mika-!" the scene in front of him almost completely forgotten, Yu moved to stand up, ready to jump to his twin's aid, but another unforeseen event stopped him: something cold plummeted onto his head from above. "Eh-?"

The unknown cold liquid, he soon discovered, was some of the punch in one of the cups that hadn't spilled as much. How the liquid had gotten into the air and then onto his head… well, that was the work of the purple-haired girl. Said girl turned away from him once he looked at her, making a bee-line for the hallway Yu had come through.

Normally, Yu would have been worried about the girl, maybe even concerned that she had misunderstood something. He could have just sighed and continued helping cleaning up, despite her words. The one thing that stopped him and caused him to give chase in anger: a small smirk had appeared on her face as she had turned away from him, igniting his fury.

"Hey!" the dark-haired teen shouted as he got up from the floor, slipping a bit on the spilled drink. This setback caused her to reach the hallway first and the fact that there were several dozen students crowding his way didn't make reaching it any easier.

 _Is she duping me or something?!_ The teen wondered in annoyance. Something similar to a brother instinct told him to look back at Mika, but he ignored it for now, his fury pushing past his instincts. _I've got my own problems to deal with. Mika can take care of himself for now._

The gymnasium traveled past him in a blur, lights and smoke clouding his vision. The severity of the music lessened once he reached the hallway, giving him more time to think. The hallway cut off sharply to the left, but branched out in several different directions once he got further down. _If I don't find her quickly, then I'm going to lose her!_

The teen started running – a clear violation of school rules, but what did it matter? School wasn't in-session right now – but he soon found himself wondering what he would do when he did catch the girl. His thoughts were blank on that subject, so he decided that he would deal with that once he got to it.

Yu was almost relieved that the girl wasn't that far away; she was out of breath by the time he got to the crossroad in the school halls. At first, slight concern hit him again – what if she had severe asthma? – but it soon faded when he realized the reason she was out of breath: laughter.

"What exactly was that for?! I didn't 'violate' you or anything!" Yu shouted in anger when he got closer to her. He knew that some people were sensitive to personal space – even he was uncomfortable with Yoichi's sudden hugging – but if that were the case then… _I'll just apologize later._ She turned to look at him, her breaths still short from laughter.

"Ah~ I'm sorry! But your face was so funny to watch! And everyone else's reactions too~!" The girl's tone had turned teasing again as she struggled to catch her breath. A slight smile was on her face, which probably meant that she was just having fun, but it still irked him. From his first – or what number was it, since he had actually seen her somewhere before? – impression of her, she seemed like a person who found joy from others' suffering.

"I know, that's the problem! I didn't do anything, but now everyone will think I'm some sort of…" Yu trailed off in frustration, not sure what the word he was grasping for was called. He blamed it on the cold punch soaking into his shirt. _That has to be some sort of cause for a brain freeze, it just has to be!_

"Perv?" she suggested with a slight lift of her eyebrows. Her gaze had lit up again, almost like a warning that her teasing would continue.

"Yes! Eh… but I'm not really-" the teen almost grew mute, feeling embarrassment tint his face. "What did I even do to make you say that? Are you part of an improv group or something?"

The girl's brown gaze turned slightly blank, and Yu could almost swear that he saw the gears moving in her head. When she let out another laugh, her tone turned slightly more serious. "Ah, no, not at all! I just thought it would be fun~!"

"You thought it would be fun… to ruin my reputation?" Yu couldn't believe what he was hearing. The dead seriousness in her tone made it hard for him to think that she wasn't joking, but still…

"After all, how could you touch a pure maiden like myself without asking for her name~?" Another smirk appeared on the girl's face, causing him to inwardly cringe. Her words, however, left two impressions in his mind, the first of which he stated.

"Somehow, I doubt anything you say is pure, based on what I've heard already." The dark-haired teen muttered, his gaze travelling to the ceiling. She did have a point though; even though he had clearly seen her somewhere around school, he couldn't remember her name. "I guess I don't know your name…"

The girl gave him a look, remaining silent for a few moments as she stared at him. Confusion hit the teen as he waited for an answer. _What is she waiting for?_ The teasing smirk appeared along with the girl's next words. "A gentleman always offers his name first. Even though you're a werewolf, I'm sure there's a gentleman somewhere deep down~"

"Huh?" A small sigh left him at her confusing statement; she was obviously trying to embarrass him again, but he realized that he was becoming used to her attitude fast. "Alright then. My name is Yuichiro. And you are…?"

"I am the humble magical witch, Shinoa~! Nice to meet you, Yu-san!" Her words were uplifting, but left more confusion in their wake. _H-humble? She certainly doesn't act it… and…_

"What exactly are you?" the teen inquired, not quite understanding what she had said. 'Magical witch?' It sounded like something out of a cartoon, one that would have been much too girly for him to watch. Something was surfacing in the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite make it out.

"I'm a magical witch, the best combination between a magical girl and witch! I couldn't decide what I wanted to be: a cute but powerful magical girl or a seductive villainess. So I chose both instead~!" Her words were accompanied by a stylized pose. Yu wondered briefly how long she had taken to practice said pose, but the meaning made a bit more sense now.

Shinoa's explanation had unlocked a memory from eight years ago, one that – if he had to admit it – was surprised that he even remembered. It had seemed so insignificant at the time that Yu wasn't quite sure why he had kept it locked in his memory.

 _The eight-year old twins were staring at the small TV in their living room, cushions underneath of them as they ate a midafternoon snack. Yu's eyes had been glued to the television as he waited for the preview of next week's episode. It was a favorite show of the two boys: space pilots in giant robots fought against aliens from another planet. The show had been going on for as long as the dark-haired child could remember; it was practically the essence of their childhood. That's why, when a startling message appeared on the screen, Yu practically started screaming._

 _His twin, Mika, hadn't been paying much attention to the commercials; the blonde boy was focused more on making sure they didn't dirty the floor with their snacks. Yu's sudden shout of anger caused the twin to look over at the other boy._

 _"How could they?!" Yu shouted in disbelief as his hands curled into fists. The blonde had seemed genuinely surprised at first, wondering if he had missed something important; this caused him to look at the screen._

 _"Yu-chan, what's-?" Mika began to ask, but stopped when he saw the words on the screen. A preview hadn't appeared on the colored television, but something else had. Some symbols spelled out the name of another show, but both boys quickly saw the problem: the time of the show was scripted over their favorite show for next week._

 _"What is this?!" Yu shouted at the screen, not quite understanding what he was seeing. They canceled the show? How dare them! This had been the entirety of his childhood for the past eight years_ _ **(1)**_ _! The brightly colored advertisement then rolled into a trailer. Yu didn't even pay attention to what was going on; his vision was dyed red._

 _"They're airing another show?" Mika had asked in slight confusion, taking the whole situation much better than his twin. Out of the two of them, the blonde had always been more patient and self-controlled. Even now, his thoughts were most likely on possible solutions._

 _"I don't understand! Why would they cancel it?!" Yu shouted as he looked over at his twin, feeling saddened. They had left off at a cliff-hanger too and if they never continued, then they wouldn't know how the war between the aliens and robots ended up…_

 _"Maybe they just moved it to a new timeslot?" the blonde boy suggested, looking back at the screen. "If not, we could always try reading the manga. Maybe we'll like this show too."_

 _Yu knew that his twin was just trying to be helpful, but right now his eight-year old mind was in the deepest pits of despair. How could he expect the answer to be so simple? Doubt nagged at his mind, but he watched the trailer regardless. What the two boys saw left them speechless: young girls in poufy dresses with brightly colored weapons as they faced off against strange-looking creatures._

 _The dark-haired boy could only come up with one thing to say. "I'm so glad we don't have a sister." He mumbled, knowing he wouldn't watch the show that had just been advertised. It just seemed too… strange for him to comprehend. Mika's face was a similar look of astonishment, but it quickly changed as a sigh left him._

 _"You know, Yu-chan, that's practically the girl version of what we were watching…"_

 _"Eh… be quiet." Yu retorted, sulking a little bit at the realization. Mika simply laughed at his expression as he turned off the TV. The two of them left the room a moment later, but the dark-haired boy knew that he wouldn't forget about the show that had replaced their epic showdown. He would never forget the rage he felt at that moment!_

Yu shuddered in embarrassment at the memory, wishing that it would have remained forgotten in his mind. _I was really serious about that as a kid._ The thought didn't make things any better and – to add to everything else – Shinoa was giving him a calculating look.

"Yu-san, you looked a bit lost there." Her voice was laced with concern, but he knew that it couldn't necessarily be true. She must have been teasing him again while he had zoned out.

"I-it's nothing." He hid the embarrassment he felt as he turned towards the gymnasium's entrance at the other end of the hall. True to the 'magical girl' show, Shinoa was dressed in a deep purple dress with lace and ribbons. The dress barely came to her knees, making him somewhat nervous at how short it was. _How did I not notice until now?_ "Anyway, I need to find someone."

The teen started down the hallway, fully intent on putting his brother instinct to use, but almost stopped when he heard footsteps follow him. A quick glance beyond his shoulder made him note that Shinoa was trailing after him. "Is this person you are finding this so-called 'Mika'?"

Yu's insides froze, but he answered her regardless. "Yes." She must have heard him before she poured the punch on his head. Speaking of which, his shirt still hadn't dried…

"Ah, 'Mika' is short for 'Mikaela' so… you must be searching for your lover, correct~" Her teasing tone was back as she grabbed his fake tail, halting his advance to the gymnasium. Yu choked on air at her words, an embarrassed blush covering his face.

"What are you even saying?!" Yu blurted out, trying to get her to let go of his tail. She smirked when she noticed his blush. "Mika is a guy!"

"O-oh…" At his statement, Shinoa's face went completely pale as her eyes widened. She didn't seem to know what to say, so Yu figured that he would clear things up further.

"And he's my brother."

"A-ah… well, that's…" His purple-haired classmate was having a hard time coming up with something to say. Her gaze trailed to the floor as her grip on his tail finally loosened. A small "sorry" came from her a moment later, prompting him to sigh.

 _Honestly, this is why we use 'Mika.' Normally, people don't realize that it's shortened, but I don't know who to blame for giving him a slightly girly name: him or my parents…_

"It's fine," Yu tried to dismiss the whole conversation as he continued through the doorway. "Now, if you excuse me…"

The dark-haired teen thought that was the end of it. He noticed that the overturned tables had been righted again and more treats were distributed. The cleanup must have been finished fairly quickly.

"And now…" the teen muttered, his eyes scanning over the crowd. He was pretty sure he could find where he left Mika easily; his twin probably wouldn't want to move around in this crowd. _Hopefully he's having fun as opposed to his nerves._

Yu quickly found, however, that the problem he had been worrying about was non-existent; at least, he thought it was, considering the fact that Mika was nowhere to be found at his last known location. "Wha-?" he let a small exclamation – half surprise and half confusion – leave him. _Mika couldn't have just wandered off… could he?_

Worry suddenly hit him as his gaze flitted around the immediate area. Mika wouldn't have left, not when Yu had told him to stay there. This meant that they didn't have a common meeting ground and the fact that his brother was wandering around this place alone meant…

 _Oh no._

Yu's gait through the crowd increased as he searched the people near him, hoping to see his twin's extremely light hair like a beacon. Sadly, the peers around him gave no hints as to where his brother could have gone, and the girl that Yu had left him with wasn't anywhere to be seen either.

 _Could she have abducted him? What if she turns out to be insane, and then Mika could have…_

The sudden severity of the thought caused Yu's trek to come to a halt. The fact that his brother could have gotten kidnapped by someone who had clearly looked younger than him – Yu didn't want to admit that it was on a first-glance basis – didn't seem possible. But… if such a thing had happened, then they had an emergency to get through. What would his parents even say…?

The dark-haired teen's panic increased when he felt something bump into him from behind. He quickly settled down when he realized that it was just Shinoa, who… _Is she still following me?_

"What are you doing?" the question slipped out like an automatic response, reminding him of all the times that he would catch Mika in the act of morphing into his shadow. The incidents had lessened over the years, but the blonde teen still seemed to hide behind him every now and again. _Eh… it's just the way he is though._

"I'm… helping you out!" The first part of her answer was slightly delayed; like she wasn't sure what to say, but her voice quickly became cheery once again. Yu raised an accusing eyebrow at her sudden change of heart.

"You – the person who was successfully ruining my reputation – want to help… me?" The teen could hardly believe what he was hearing. _This night keeps getting stranger and stranger._

"Of course, you are obviously in need!" At her proclamation, Yu simply gave her another skeptical look, which prompted her to continue. "Magical girls help solve the world's problems right? And so, as the humble magical witch that I am, I will help you locate your brother~!"

Yu stayed silent for a moment as they both stood in place, the large smile on Shinoa's face quickly turning to a pleading one. The thought that he had actually lost his brother caused his annoyance to surface, but since Mika had possibly gotten himself kidnapped (worst case scenario that Yu was willing to even admit) then he would need all the help he could get locating him.

"…Fine." At the dark-haired teen's reluctant answer, Shinoa's smile broadened again. They continued at a slower pace, the former taking care to observe the room closer. As his gaze focused on the adjacent wall, a sudden thought came to him that, hopefully, would make things easier.

 _Maybe he's with Yoichi._ The idea seemed plausible, considering the fact that their friend had fainted less than a half hour ago. Yoichi seemed to be Mika's shadow almost as much as Mika was Yu's, so if anything, the blonde must have went to check on the frightened boy.

Without saying anything to his purple-haired follower, he changed course, figuring that she would either care enough to catch up or lose interest in following him around. True to her supposed magical girl nature, Shinoa stuck to him like glue, navigating through the crowd with surprising ease. The sight – from out of the corner of his eye – reminded him of a ninja. _Or more like a deadly viper. One moment she's calm but the next she's bent on ruining something for you…_

His musings came to another abrupt end when he noticed the two empty chairs leaning against the wall. He was pretty sure that Yoichi had been sitting in one of them before Shinoa had distracted him.

"Ah, Mitsu must have dragged him off somewhere." The slightly-knowing tone of Shinoa's comment made him worry even more. Either Mika was with Yoichi and… whoever this Mitsu person was, or he was somewhere else. _Kidnapped by the vampire girl… even Yoichi might be missing too… why do I have to get stuck with all this?_

"Do you know where they would have gone?" The teen turned around and looked at his purple-haired companion, but she shook her head with surprising seriousness.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I'm not even sure why she would come to this party, unless her sister's here as well." Shinoa's statement was somewhat hard to hear as her brownish gaze swept across the room, but she must have not seen what she was looking for. Her shoulders slumped in slight resignation. "Doesn't Mika have a cell phone?"

The question brought back another idea, one that wouldn't fail – unless Mika had lost that too. His twin wouldn't dare ignore a text from his brother and, considering the fact that he couldn't call Yoichi (the brown-haired boy's phone didn't allow texting and the room was too loud to be able to hear anything in the first place) since the other boy's phone was out of battery, this was the only option left. That or trekking around the gym until they finally found him.

Yu, not wanting to accept their last resort, pulled his phone from his pocket. Thankfully it hadn't gotten soaked from the punch that had been poured on his by his follower, but he would probably still put it in some rice later. _Just to be safe._

He quickly found Mika's number and started typing a simple question: _Where did you go?_

The dark-haired teen knew that he should expect an answer right away, not unless Mika had his phone clutched in his hands, but it shouldn't have taken too long. Still, what was he expected to do while he waited for one?

"Want to go check out the haunted house?" Shinoa's question seemed almost like a dare, but Yu didn't pay much attention to it. His eyes soon found the place she was suggesting and, even though it was all fake, he felt some sort of malice seeping from it. He shuddered involuntarily, shaking his head.

"Nope, not one bit. Mika wouldn't have gone in there and… something feels wrong about that place…" _Like stupid Guren is waiting to jump me…_

Shinoa didn't quite seem to understand as she looked between him and the haunted house, her gaze blank. She finally shrugged, seeming uninterested. The next moment, Yu's phone buzzed. He urgently checked the message, sent from Mika, with the words confirming his fears.

 _Save me!_

The two simple words had probably taken less than two seconds to type, but Yu could practically feel Mika's anxiety through it. Call it his brother instinct or something, but the text certainly didn't give him the warm fuzzies. His purple-haired follower had been looking over his shoulder when the text came in.

"What exactly does that mean?" she asked, as though the message didn't speak for itself. She seemed slightly more interested in helping him, now that they had some sort of answer, but her next words proved true. "He didn't even send you where he was at. How are you expected to 'save' him?"

"I wish my phone had GPS…" Yu muttered as he started to type another message, knowing that phones didn't necessarily work that way. If he would have been able to find Mika by locating his brother's phone – which was thankfully still with him – then things would have been much easier. Just when the teen was about to send the message, his phone buzzed again with another text bubble popping up from Mika.

 _For my attendant's insubordination, I will be confiscating his communication device. Therefore, he shall be unable to answer further. If any more messages come through, they will be thoroughly deleted, as should any words from such commoners._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Your Queen._

"Wha-?" the exclamation slipped out as he skimmed the text, then taking a few more moments to read over it again. "C-commoners? Queen?" _Is this some sort of role play? Then again, Mika isn't into that sort of thing._

"I'm assuming that isn't your brother." At Shinoa's slightly concerned face, Yu could only sigh – that seemed more like Mika's habit than his. _Guess there's only one thing to do._

"I don't want to risk angering whoever stole my brother's phone so… I guess we'll have to keep searching." His reply was followed by another nod from Shinoa, who faithfully continued following behind him. As Yu continued to wade through the crowds of students – they just seemed to keep growing in numbers! – his thoughts were filled with resignation. _I'll keep searching until we run into Mika, or whoever stole his phone, or Yoichi… whoever comes first…_

* * *

 **(1)** Yu is exaggerating a bit; he probably wasn't watching this show from day 1~

Well, this chapter took a bit longer to get out than I would have liked, but I'm glad to announce that it's a bit longer (page length wise) than the last one. On another note: Wow! I'm so pleased that so many people are interested in this~! It was just a random idea for the holidays, but I hope that you continuing following this until it's finished (it won't take that long, I promise!). I have about… five chapters planned out, with maybe a full sequel and one-shot focusing on something revealed in the last chapter, so I'm hoping to continue this universe for a while longer. For another thing, who wants to know about the famed health incident that I am not-so-subtlety mentioning through the past two chapters? It's not too big of a plot point for this, but it is considered backstory, in case anyone is interested… I also seem to have some sort of grudge for people cancelling TV shows… considering Yu's flashback that I definitely didn't plan to include originally. Either way, next chapter is with Yoichi and Mitsuba, so look forward to that!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	3. Chapter 3

**meowelina:** Haha sorry this is a bit late, but it's here~!

 **Eramis8:** Thanks! Your review is a great summary of this story so far :p

 **Grecia:** Thanks for reading despite the language barrier! As to your question, this will answer it! :D

 **Tofu-kun:** Here's the next chapter! :D

 **VampireQueenKrul:** Thanks! :)

* * *

Away With Your Fear!

Mitsuba had truthfully thought that she was the only one at this party who hadn't wanted to come. At first, the idea of hanging out with friends had seemed fun, but when her only friend who had promised to go to the party with her – Shinoa – had seemingly ditched her for a dark-haired werewolf, she figured that the night would turn out just the same as always. That was until another young looking boy had fainted but a few feet away from her.

 _I guess it's a good thing that I took that first aid class last semester._ The thought came as a side note as the blonde girl helped the barely conscious classmate to a seat against the wall. Luckily it wasn't too far from where he had first collapsed; the boy promptly fainted again once he was in the seat.

Mitsuba briefly wondered if she should help the people who were cleaning up – one of them being the werewolf that Shinoa had been stalking all night. Truthfully, Shinoa probably wasn't aware that the blonde girl had made it to the party. Maybe she had gotten so involved in her pranks that she hadn't noticed…

A small noise from beside her made her look to the seat. The boy's hazel eyes fluttered open slowly, blinking several times in confusion. She seriously began to hope that he hadn't hit his head on the way down; if he had memory loss from the incident, it could lead to more troubles. _Why did he even faint in the first place?_

Instead of inquiring on the question echoing through her mind, she decided to ask another one. "Are you feeling a bit better?"

The boy's gaze focused on her and, when he didn't answer, she started to wonder if he had heard her. Contradicting to her thought, the boy sat up quickly in the seat, a small blush of embarrassment on his face. "Ah, yeah! Sorry for causing trouble…"

He gave a small bow in his seat while facing her, making an uncomfortable feeling run through her. Why was he apologizing for something he had no control over? "I-it's nothing. You clearly fainted and I took a first-aid class over the summer, so I figured I would be able to help."

The boy gave her a bright smile despite her humbling words. "Still, thank you for helping! I really didn't mean to cause so much trouble, it's just that he looked so…" The brown-haired classmate trailed off slightly, as though he were having trouble remembering what he was going to describe. His words only deepened her confusion.

"Wait, 'he'?" She glanced at the crowd cleaning up the refreshments, her gaze lingering on the werewolf. By the looks of it, the teen and Shinoa were now having some sort of heated conversation. _Or Shinoa could be acting again…_

The boy followed her gaze, a look of recognition on his face. "Oh, Yu-kun!" The small exclamation left his mouth in a hurry, but it was replaced by a withered expression from the brunette. "I really did it this time…"

"He's your friend?" Mitsuba inquired as the pieces started to come together in her mind. She had seen the boy with a small group of other students before he had fainted, but their physical features hadn't been important at that moment. She had merely focused on what she could do to help.

"Mm-hmm." The boy beside her nodded as he watched the cleanup. "Yu-kun and Mika-kun are always watching out for me, even though we haven't been friends for long. I always just seem to cause trouble for them though."

The blonde girl didn't know who either of the names were referring to personally, but she figured one of them had to be the werewolf. The other… _Maybe it was that vampire he was near before he fainted, or the ghoul._ Whichever of the two it had been, she wouldn't know unless she was introduced to them.

"They're your friends for a reason, so I'm sure it's not too much trouble." _At least they stuck around for this party._ The slightly bitter thought caused her to freeze slightly. She watched as Shinoa's form retreated from the room, the werewolf following promptly after. What they were doing, she had no idea, but she wouldn't worry about it now.

As she stared at the brown-haired boy, her first-aid training came back to her. "Do you feel any lightheadedness or nausea?" If her memory served correctly, these signs could lead to another fainting spell. It could also be possible that the occurrence of his fainting was common, but what exactly did that mean for possible health problems?

Her thought process was stopped when the boy shook his head. "No, I feel alright now. The scary creature from the underworld sort of spooked me."

Once again, the boy's descriptions were confusing. _Scary creature from the underworld?_ Her gaze trailed back to the peer dressed as a ghoul, a cloak covering most of his body. All three creatures that the boy had been surrounded by – a vampire, werewolf, and ghoul – could be associated with the 'underworld' and the fact that he had said 'creature' meant that the offender responsible was singular.

"You fainted from fright? Not from any medical conditions?" Mitsuba was, once again, befuddled. Fainting from fright wasn't uncommon, but with the suddenness of what had happened, she had surely thought it was something possibly hereditary.

The boy nodded once again. "It was just too much to handle at the moment. It's like the gym has been transformed into a…" The word seemed to elude him once again, causing him to stop. She took note of this, thinking through the possible brain damage of his fall. He seemed to give up on finding a suitable word and settled for his next comment. "It's definitely scary."

"I'm assuming this has happened before?"

"Yeah…" The words brought an even deeper shade of embarrassment to her classmate's features. He seemed reluctantly to talk about it, but under her questioning gaze, he continued. "When I was really young, this used to happen a lot – for different reasons. It seemed to get better after a while, but then I accidently signed up for Health class…"

The story sounded very familiar to something that her older sister had told her: one of the students in her second-year Health class had fainted early on in the semester. Supposedly the student had been given a permit to be excused from the class but came anyway. She hadn't really paid much attention to the story at the time, but now she wished she would have.

"My sister mentioned something similar to that."

The boy's gaze widened for a moment before it trailed to the ground. "Ah, that's because it's been talked about a lot. The teacher was really worried, but the person on the screen looked so realistic that I couldn't help but feel ill."

The remaining words pieced together the whole story in her mind, helping her to remember what she had forgotten. Her sister's class had been learning about the different systems of the body and was using first-rate technology. She could have only figured that the diagrams on the screen were realistic.

Mitsuba felt some amount of sadness run through her; he had most likely been bullied for what had happened. Which probably led to the werewolf… "Is that how you met the werewolf you were with?" She didn't want to refer to the person by name, considering that she didn't fully know the answer.

"Yu-kun had to help me to the nurse's office. That was the first time I had fainted in front of him, so he was really worried too. I just wish I wouldn't be such a burden…" The boy's thoughts were turning negative quickly, which was something that she wanted to avoid, but it seemed as though she didn't have to worry: he looked at her with a slightly curious expression. "I just realized that I didn't properly thank you since I don't know your name."

The request hidden in his words was innocent, but it still caused a slight blush of embarrassment to appear on her face. They had been talking for – how long? – and she hadn't even introduced herself yet. _I'm glad my sister isn't around to witness this._

"I'm Mitsuba, a second-year **(1)**. And you are…?" She tried to hide her embarrassment by acting natural, but she still felt disappointed by her actions. Certainly her sister wouldn't have made that mistake, and the fact that she rarely did so herself was even more disheartening.

"My name is Saotome Yoichi. Thanks for helping me, Mitsuba-san!" The boy – Yoichi – seemed like he was feeling much more upbeat. Another bright smile accompanied his words, all embarrassment seemingly forgotten.

"Like I said, it's alright. I'm just glad it wasn't something serious." She avoided his gaze, instead focusing on the moving aspects of the party. Another thought came to her mind. "You're probably feeling exhausted after all this. Are you sure you want to stick around for the rest of the party?"

Mitsuba found that she almost wanted him to stay, considering the fact that both of their friends had ditched them for the other. _How exactly does that work?_ She didn't want to be selfish, but she found the boy's strange innocence to be mildly amusing.

"Well, Mika-kun and Yu-kun are still around here… somewhere." Yoichi's hazel gaze searched the crowd, a small amount of worry in his features. "I think they would be worried if I just left. I can't contact them either since my phone's battery ran out."

That certainly was a problem. The blonde came to a quick decision on what she could do to help, despite feeling hesitant. "If you would like, I could help you find them, if you're feeling up to it. I would just need to know who I'm looking for."

At her words, Yoichi's expression lit up again. "That would be great, if it's not an inconvenience." The brown-haired boy moved to stand up, careful of his wavering balance. "Yu-kun has dark hair and is dressed as a werewolf, while Mika has really, really blonde hair and is a vampire. They're also twins, so they look a lot alike."

The description helped her, but it allowed her to come to another conclusion as well: if Shinoa had gone after the werewolf – Yu – then they would most likely find the brothers if they found her friend. She voiced her thoughts to the boy beside her, standing up as well in order to prepare for if he felt lightheaded.

"Shinoa was following Yu around, so she should be around here somewhere."

Yoichi nodded in recognition of her comment. Apparently he had observed some of his friend's interactions with the purple-haired classmate. They made their way past the refreshments table, which was now refilled and upright, and headed towards the opposite corner. She had to assume that Yoichi hadn't driven to the party and that he had walked, which would make getting him home a bit more complicated.

"Last I saw, Shinoa went through here." Mitsuba stated, half to herself and half to the other occupant of their temporary group. Yoichi must have also seen something similar; he nodded from his slow pace beside her. They were approaching the doorway that led to the hallways leading further into the school. Maybe Shinoa had run into one of the classrooms for… whatever she had been doing.

 _The werewolf – Yu – he was following as well. Now I just have to hope that they didn't go too far…_

A few steps through the door, Mitsuba realized that the footsteps that had been following her had stopped. She turned around, seeing her brown-haired companion standing a few feet away, not moving another inch. His wide eyes, which at first seemed like they were looking at the doorway, were glued to something at the edge of the door's frame.

She glanced at him, then turning her head to focus on what she assumed he was looking at: the skeletons hanging along the doorway. Her gaze trailed back to him as her loose hair moved with the motion. _I should have worn it up; it's too distracting._ "What's wrong? Aren't you coming?"

"Uhm… yeah." Yoichi nodded, his eyes still glued to the skeletons. He didn't move from his spot, even though he had said otherwise. Now that Mitsuba was properly observing him, the brunette still seemed a bit pale.

"Do you need to sit down?" she asked, feeling as though the inquiry was necessary. She wanted to find Shinoa – and Yu – as quickly as possible, especially for Yoichi's sake. "We can take a few moments and-"

"A-ah, no I'm alright." Yoichi shook his head quickly, bowing in slight apology for interrupting. The paleness didn't go away, even as he took a deep breath. "We should find Yu-kun. And it'll be fine; they're just fake."

Her classmate took a few steps forward, coming towards her hesitantly. The latter portion of his proclamation seemed to hint at the fact that he was still very much frightened, at least as far as she could tell. _It's good that he's trying his best to get over it, especially so soon after he fainted the last time. Maybe we'll make it through the rest of the night fine._

There was one thing, however, that Mitsuba hadn't accounted for. Yoichi was right; the skeletons were made of lightweight plastic and had no extra features. In fact, if the blonde had wanted to, she probably could have easily moved them with a push of her hand. All of this let her predict that there was practically, in no way possible, that Yoichi would faint from the exposure to the skeletons. So, as he stepped forward and into the arch of the doorway, she breathed a sigh of relief. And then she felt that relief plummet just as quickly.

Right when one of Yoichi's shoes reached the archway to the door, something blurred from beside him. The blonde had to assume that whatever it was had moved incredibly quickly, as the blur shone with tones of red, gray, and black. The blur materialized right beside Yoichi, the figure violating personal space with the extreme proximity. The brunette's eyes grew wide at the sudden appearance as his skin took on an even paler shade of white, and with a small noise of surprise, the fragile boy went tumbling to the ground.

Mitsuba could have sworn that she heard a countdown in her head as she released a sigh. The figure that had scared Yoichi was still standing in the same place. _No that's not right…_ Now that she took a better look at it, the figure was simply another decoration.

As she looked at the mechanism that had activated the motion of the decoration, she realized that whoever had placed the decoration there had probably done it as some sort of scary joke. She certainly didn't remember the coffin that the overly grotesque vampire figure had popped out of. In fact, she hadn't even seen it when she had walked through the door at the start of the party. _Do they have extra decorations stashed somewhere around here…? Never mind, I'm not sure I even want to know. I wonder why it only went off when Yoichi got close to it…_

Several mumblings from a group of peers nearby jolted her out of her musings. Two of the small group offered to help her bring the unconscious boy back to the wall, for which she was grateful; it didn't seem like a very good idea for Yoichi to wake up in the same proximity as the motion-activated decoration that had scared him in the first place.

Now, Mitsuba found herself waiting in the same chair that she had been in, looking over at the boy in the chair beside her. They were back at square one. _Literally, this time…_ Her purple gaze wandered to the two peers that had helped her, and she figured that thanks were due. "Thank you for the help." She knew that, if her two classmates hadn't helped her, she would have had no chance of dragging Yoichi back to the chairs. This time he was fully unconscious, whereas the first time he had been at least partially conscious.

Ironically enough, one of the classmates that had helped her was the ghoul that had most likely scared Yoichi on accident in the first place. A smile was present on the ghoul's face as he replaced his mask. "We were glad to help! Besides, it would have been wrong to just leave him there, don't you think?" The latter part of his statement was directed at his friend, who stood beside him. The other classmate was dressed in a similar manner as his ghoul friend, with some variations in outfits. If the blonde girl hadn't been told what Mika and Yu had looked like, she might have considered these two to be the brothers – she knew that they were very close friends since early elementary school and looked similar for the most part.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," the ghoul's companion answered, although he sounded the least bit concerned about what had happened. His gaze seemed to echo that as well. She briefly wondered why he was coming to the party when he didn't seem to enjoy it, but her thought was interrupted when he spoke again. "Although I don't see why he would faint from a small fright like that."

"He's the legendary fainter, so it's really not a surprise." Even though the ghoul said this, his upbeat tone was still present. His gaze wandered back to the unconscious boy beside her, almost studying him for a moment, before another helpful suggestion occurred to him. "Ah, he might need something to drink when he wakes up! Water would be fine, right?"

"Uh… sure." Mitsuba nodded and the two companions embarked on their search (since the majority of the drinks on the snack table were red-dyed punch, they might have had a bit of trouble finding water in the first place). She didn't quite know how to react to their sudden helpfulness. _This party might just have a different effect on different people. I've certainly never been offered help during the normal school year…_

Her negative thoughts were interrupted by another noise from the classmate beside her. Purple eyes turned to look at him as he awoke for the second time, almost identically so to the first time, except for the fact that he remained in the same position for a few extra seconds. Yoichi leaned against the chair, looking slightly dazed as his gaze found hers. That same hazel gaze focused on her for a few more moments before he bolted upright, the action causing her heart to beat in surprise at the sudden action.

"W-what's wrong?" the slight stutter came out of her mouth at the shock she felt. For a moment, the blonde wondered if Yoichi had spotted his friends, and her gaze scanned over the crowd. She couldn't identify anyone that looked like Yu or Mika though, so she focused her attention back on the brown-haired boy.

"I'm so sorry!" Yoichi was now bowing again, eyes closed as a blush covered his face. "I didn't mean to faint again! It's just…!"

"It's fine! You couldn't help it this time." She interrupted him quickly, feeling uncomfortable with the over-politeness of his apology. This time, she really couldn't blame him. _That trap was most likely set up as a jump scare, so at least it was understandable._

"Really? But still I…" At the warning glance she gave him, his repeated apology trailed off as he looked uncomfortably at the floor. She felt bad for silencing him with a look, but she couldn't handle all the apologies. _It's just too abnormal._ As she thought this, she realized that Yoichi's gaze had slowly made its way from the floor to her shoes, then up to her face. A light blush was still present on his cheeks, but it seemed like for an entirely different reason. She didn't understand, until his question made itself known. "Mitsuba-san, are you… a princess?"

"Ah! Well…" a blush covered her face at the embarrassment she felt. The truth flowed from her mouth in a rush as she looked at her lap. "My sister… she thought that I should wear something more… girly than what I originally was going to wear, so I…!"

At her quick explanation, Yoichi shook his head, a smile on his face. "I'm sorry; you must have misunderstood! I didn't mean to embarrass you, it's just… I thought that you look really pretty…" The brunette trailed off, his blush deepening as his gaze wandered elsewhere. Her mind went blank at the proclamation, as some sort of warmth filled her.

When Mitsuba had shown her sister what she was going to wear to the party, the older teen had insisted on the blonde wearing one of her old dresses. The renaissance-style dress, which flowed to just above her ankles, was made with mixes of light and dark purple fabric. Gold ribbon etched designs along the seams of the dress, and her sister had even offered to braid her blonde hair with decorative flowers. Still… _I… didn't even think of anyone believing I looked pretty, not at a party._

"I… uh… thanks." She felt at a loss for words, like a comforting light had calmed her nerves. Her gaze wandered to Yoichi's costume, desperate for something to talk about. "So… did you make your outfit?"

"Hmm?" a small noise came from the boy as he redirected his attention back to the conversation. The change seemed like something that both of them had needed. Another smile, this was softer, appeared on his face. "Well, yes and no. I had the shirt and pants, but my big sister helped me to make the wings. She even had the idea of attaching them to one of my elementary school backpacks so that I would have a place to put…"

His words trailed off suddenly as his gaze found another spot to stare at, becoming almost conflicted. He seemed unsure for a moment, before a small utterance came from him. "Ah, never mind."

The sudden change in attitude caused the blonde to become confused. _What was he about to say? Why did he stop?_ Mitsuba would have been very disappointed with herself if Yoichi had thought she was uninterested with the topic. In fact, she had felt the opposite; it was interesting hearing about his family. _Still, I'm not sure I should bring it up. Something stopped him from continuing and I wouldn't want him to be bothered by it now. I'll keep a close watch though._

Before she could change the subject a second time – this one to something that would hopefully be more comfortable for her companion – another voice cut through their conversation. "Sorry it took so long!" Her gaze snapped to the newcomer as she recognized the two classmates that had helped her, the ghoul holding a cup in his hands. "We couldn't find any water on the condiments table, but there was some in the kitchen. We did run into a guy with glasses and- Oh, you're awake!"

At the classmate's excited statement, Yoichi's gaze also settled on the newcomers. The blonde – who was fully prepared to explain what had happened – took a deep breath. She didn't get to start what she was going to say, however, because Yoichi let out a small gasp and, as though he had a headache, brought his head to rest between his knees.

"Are you alright?" she leaned down to try and hear if he would say anything – he might have been more soft-spoken around people he didn't know – but all she could hear were panicked breaths. Her gaze turned to her two classmates. "Thanks for your help Lacus, but could you give us a few moments. I can explain in a bit."

The ghoul, Lacus, thankfully understood the situation. He nodded vigorously, turning to his friend. "Sure! Come on, Rene. Let's see if we can find where those two guys went!"

Rene nodded wordlessly and left with Lacus after giving one last glance at the brown-haired boy. Yoichi was still resting his head between his knees, but it seemed like his breathing had calmed down a bit. "Are you feeling a bit better?" her question slipped out as concern hit her. Was he still startled by Lacus and Rene's outfits?

"Yeah, I think so." A small nod answered her as he raised his head. "Sorry about that. I thought I could deal with it, but this time there were two of them."

"It's alright." The blonde knew that Yoichi had to be feeling worse now. Her comment came out with a smile as she hoped to cheer him up a bit. "You seem to making progress though. You didn't faint this time, even with two ghouls."

A small laugh left him as he met her gaze. "Thanks. I guess you are right." The bat still seemed a bit shaky as his hand reached for his pocket. The action caused her eyes to follow the motion, watching as he pulled a phone from his pocket. His hands reached for the power button, but stopped short, almost as though it was a habit that he just remembered wouldn't work. Her guess was confirmed by his next statement. "Ah, I forgot it's out of power."

Mitsuba took another glance at his phone, realizing that she recognized it. "Your phone looks like it's the same as mine. I brought my charger with me, just in case. You could use it if you would like to." Her hands reached for the small leather pouch around her waist, which contained her phone and the mentioned charger, as well as some pocket change.

"A-are you sure?" At her nod, he gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks."

As Yoichi plugged his phone and the charger into an outlet next to them, they sat in silence. Her gaze was cast at the crowds of students around them. So far, they hadn't run into the bat's friends, but they were bound to eventually. _The gym isn't that big._

She glanced back at Yoichi, seeing his eyes close every few seconds, only to open again. The amount of comfort that he must have felt to fall asleep at a party… _or he's just that tired from nearly fainting so much._ "You can fall asleep for a bit, if you want. I'll keep an eye out for your friends."

At her proposal, his eyes opened quickly as an embarrassed blush covered his face. "I-if that's alright. Sorry." The small apology slipped from him, but she figured that it was good for him to rest. Not a minute sooner and her companion was already dozing in his chair, soft breaths leaving him every second or so.

"Who thought this would be how the party turned out?" she whispered, knowing that no one would overhear the thought spoken aloud. Her gaze continued to scan the crowd, not only for Yoichi's friends, but for someone that she knew. Her older sister, with her pale blonde hair braided neatly down her back and dressed in a midnight blue gown. After a few moments, she shook her head, feeling that the notion was silly. _That was another time. She wouldn't even be near here now._

A buzz sounded from Yoichi's phone where it sat on the small end table beside her. The notification light blinked green as the text popped up on the screen. She had meant to pay no mind to it – after all, looking at the contents of someone's phone without asking was rude – but the subject caught her attention. Sent from an unregistered number was a simple question: _Did you get it?_

"What…?" _Is that supposed to mean?_ She finished her small utterance within her thoughts, careful not to wake Yoichi. The blonde was sure that her companion wouldn't yell at her, even after looking at the text, but the fact that he could suddenly wake up made her feel uncomfortable. Another glance at the brunette, however, confirmed that he was fast asleep, even with the loud noise of the gymnasium.

Concern formed a tight knot in the pit of her stomach as her gaze wandered back to the text. All she could see prior to clicking on the text was the obscure subject line, which didn't set her mind at ease. The blonde took a deep breath and then exhaled, feeling torn about what to do. Clicking to fully see the message made the situation worse.

 _Did you get it? You know where to find me._

The message was sent pretty recently and she was pretty sure that it could have been someone at the party who was making contact with the sleeping boy beside her. Her gaze scanned the crowd around them, searching for any students that could be checking their phones, but she knew the search would be futile. _Even if someone is on their phone, it doesn't guarantee that they are the one who sent the message. It wouldn't be fair to assume otherwise, and I can't just confront them about it. Besides, I don't even recognize the number._

With no way to confirm the identity of the sender, she forced herself to place the phone back on end table. Still, the text caused several thoughts to form in her mind, one of which stood out the most. The thought left her uncomfortable, but it seemed to make sense. _Is someone bullying him? The timed decoration that only seemed to trigger when he was near it, that text…._

The evidence of everything that she had observed since meeting the brown-haired boy pointed to her conclusion, but she had a problem beyond identifying who could be doing such a thing: she had no way of getting a confirmation from Yoichi. Sure, she could ask him about it when he woke up, but she didn't want to bring up such a subject at a party, when he was supposed to be having fun. _Then again, if the issue is serious, it should be dealt with…_

A usual sight caused her worries to halt. A dark blur was making its way through the crowd at a fast pace, but what caught her attention was the fuzzy appendages attached to the figure's hair and outfit. She didn't think much of it at first… until she saw Shinoa following behind said figure. "That's…!" The blonde girl muttered, turning to the sleeping boy beside her. "Yoichi, wake up! I think I've found him!"

"Hmm?" Yoichi made a small noise as his eyes opened slowly, almost as though he had been sleeping for much longer than the small nap he had taken. "Found… who?"

"Yu! Or Mika! I'm not sure which! It was the werewolf" She cursed not remembering the descriptions more carefully. She knew the descriptors very well, but not what costume went with which brother. As her words registered in his mind, the boy-turned-bat jolted upwards, nearly knocking his chair over as he scanned the crowd.

"Yu-kun!" The name burst from his mouth as he looked, but Mitsuba had realized another problem: in her haste to wake Yoichi, she had lost sight of the dark-haired werewolf. _I know the general direction that they went in. If we hurry, we should be able to catch up._

"Come on!" Her hand grasped Yoichi's as she started to drag him in the direction that the two friends had been going. As she stormed through the crowd, she could feel the boy lagging behind her. _Poor Yoichi, being abandoned by his friends at a party. You think they would be more concerned about him, especially with how scared he was and after he fainted. When I catch up to them, I'm going to…!_ In the middle of her self-induced tirade, she realized suddenly the murmurs coming from some of the crowd. _But why would they be…?_ Her purple gaze glanced the brown-haired boy behind her, unaware of their circumstances, but it also reminded her of their clasped hands. _Oh no!_

"I-It's not what you think!" She shouted, her cheeks brightening with embarrassment as she quickly let go of the bat's hand. Yoichi gave her a puzzled look as the beginning of a question formed on his lips. She didn't give him time to answer, however, as she bolted through the crowd, desperate to avoid any misunderstandings. It wasn't until she bumped into something – or more like, someone – that she realized she had left Yoichi behind. Sadly enough for her, she knew said person.

"Mitsu~ I'm so glad you're here~!" Shinoa's overly joyed voice proclaimed after they had fallen to the ground. Mitsuba unsteadily stood to her feet, ready to bombard her friend with questions, until she saw the dark-haired werewolf staring at her. His expression was one of worry, which should have made her feel better about him, but her emotions turned to rage. _He's worried about me, a random stranger, when his friend has been through so much?!_

"Yu!" She shouted as she pointed a finger at him, unable to hide her rage. He seemed genuinely surprised at the outburst as he glanced around at the students nearby, probably hoping that she was referring to one of them. After a few futile moments of this, he pointed a finger at himself in shock.

"Me?" He asked, then leaning towards Shinoa and attempting to whisper something along the lines of "Was this the friend you were telling me to avoid?"

The words irked the blonde-haired girl, but her friend's words cut off any retort that she could have said. "Nope, not her." The magical girl then turned to her. "Mitsu~ I wasn't aware that you were coming to the party! What a surprise!"

"A surprise…?" Mitsuba took a moment to digest the words, feeling conflicted about them. The reason was simple enough… "You were the one who _invited_ me to the party."

"Really?"

"Yes! You sent me a message yesterday!" Shinoa tilted her head a bit in confusion at her words, taking out her phone to check. Meanwhile, Mitsuba caught Yu trying to sneak off, his 'flight' instinct activating. The blonde caught his tail before he could wander off.

"Oh no, you don't! You're going to stay right here!" Shinoa was flipping through the messages on her phone as Mitsuba began her tirade. Yu, wanting to avoid what was coming but unable to find a way to dislodge his tail from her grip, turned to face her.

"Wait, why do I have to stay? I have to find-!"

"Because, we've searched all over the place for you! Yoichi was worried about leaving because you two were here, and he's beyond exhausted because you couldn't bother to keep an eye on him!" At her explanation, Yu's eyes widened.

"Y-yoichi? I was going to come help but…" The dark-haired teen's gaze trailed over to Shinoa, who was still searching through her phone. Said person in question seemed to sense the two pairs of eyes staring holes into her.

"Ah, yes… we got sidetracked~!" She proclaimed, then her expression turned calm again as she stared at her phone. "Well, I guess I did send you a text. The problem is, it wasn't necessarily _I_ who sent it…"

At her words, both Mitsuba and Yu stared at her in awe. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" At her question, Shinoa just waved the whole thing off and, like she did best, diverted their attention.

"Well, Yu-san. I believe we should keep searching for your brother."

"Um… yeah, we only have a bit more to check…" Yu's gaze wandered to the haunted house, causing him to shiver. Then, as though remembering something, he looked over at Mitsuba. "Oh yeah, where is Yoichi?"

As both the werewolf and magical witch stared at her, she felt the temperature in the room drop a few degrees. "Uh… well…" How was she supposed to explain this? Yu, already reading between the lines, sighed.

"You lost him, didn't you?"

"Well, I've done better at keeping with him than you have!"

Shinoa, sensing the bickering argument that was surfacing, decided to quell it in the best way that she could. "Now it seems like we have two people to search for~! Let's get going so we can find them~!" She grabbed both of the teen's hands and dragged them onwards. Mitsuba just couldn't believe that she had found Yu, but lost Yoichi in the process.

* * *

Mika's leg throbbed as he continued to follow Krul through the crowd. He would most likely have to put ice on his shin when he got home, since walking with an injured leg was not the best way to let it heal. His parents would probably be aside themselves with worry, thinking that he had gotten bullied. Instead, he would probably answer with something like "No, I just got beat up by a girl younger than me who had a sadistic streak. On another note, can she come visit sometime?"

The vampire sighed at his train of thought. _It will just go wherever it wants to at this point. I give up on trying to filter anything._ Krul most likely heard the noise, but she didn't comment on it, instead continuing with the tour of her 'kingdom.' So far, they had been to most of the places where he had already passed with Yu-chan: the refreshment tables (which were now fixed, with Krul proclaiming that an unknown commoner, one that "most likely wanted to cause trouble," had caused a shortage of food), the doors to the gymnasium (or the north entrance of her kingdom), and several remarks on the decorations scattered throughout the room ("There was a horrible, but brief war a while ago, and so we hang the bodies of our enemies to celebrate our victory. We may have to clean it up soon though, since it is starting to smell."). Now, the haunted house took up most of his view.

"So, have you ever gone…?" Mika barely got the question out of his mouth before she had caught on, her crimson gaze following his.

"No, never before. The commoners and guards alike know not to go near that castle. Even I have never set foot in it, but one day…" Her voice quieted as she gazed at the wooden set-up. "One day, I will conquer it."

"…Alright then." Mika had no other words for an answer, not knowing what else he could say. Most of her ways of describing things at this party had been… not normal, so he had come to expect it. _Maybe she's scared like Yoichi was, considering he has an interesting way of describing things at this party as well, and it's the only way she can cope with it. …Or maybe she's crazy and I'm just trying to convince myself otherwise._

If this all was just an act, he would have been tempted to put an application into the Theater Club for her, since he knew her name. _If that isn't a lie…_ Since she acted like this at a Halloween party, he briefly wondered what she would seem like at some of the other parties their school held through the year. There weren't as many as some of the other districts, like Yu-chan had mentioned at the beginning of the night, but it would be interesting to see… "Hey Krul, have you ever been to the other-?"

"Mika-kun!" A familiar shout interrupted his question, causing the vampire to look in the direction of the voice. Yoichi was making his way rather quickly through the crowd towards them, causing the blonde to have conflicting thoughts. _Am I relieved to see him or do I want to scream "run away as quickly as you can"?_ So far, Mika had been able to fend off the Vampire Queen's strange antics, but Yoichi might not have been able to handle them… "I've been looking all over for you and Yu-kun and… oh…"

The brown-haired boy had probably seen the other vampire accompanying him, which was the sudden reason for his slowed pace. Yoichi was a few feet away from him, but close enough for Krul to observe his appearance. The pink-haired girl strode up to the bat, her posture confident as she looked at him. Yoichi seemed to shrink a bit under her gaze, but his expression was filled with curiosity as well.

"So, Yoichi…" Mika started, keeping an eye on Krul to make sure she wouldn't kick him for interrupting her inspection. Her gaze narrowed, but she didn't do anything drastic, which probably meant that he could speak. "Are you feeling any better? How did you find me?"

The questions were meant to divert the boy's attention from the uncomfortable situation that he was in and, thankfully, it worked. His eyes lit up happily as he recounted what had happened. "After I fainted, I met Mitsuba-san. She was really nice and was helping me to find you and Yu-kun, but we got separated a bit ago…"

The tale seemed to be a bit more extensive than that, but before the boy could continue, Krul's eyes narrowed dangerously again. "Fainted…?" She repeated the word softly as her gaze trailed to the refreshments area. Mika paled, scared for what she would do. Several tense moments passed before…

"What could have caused such a thing?" She circled Yoichi, an air of worry surrounding her. She stopped when she was behind him, her hands reaching for his winged backpack. "Could your wings be hurt?"

Mika could hardly believe what he was hearing. Yoichi, not quite sure on how to take the situation, looked at him desperately. The vampire shrugged, finding that Krul was being tame about the situation. The tousled-haired boy continued to explain. "Well, my wings aren't broken, but there was this scary creature…"

"A creature, you say?" Krul thought for a moment at the words before fury burned in her eyes once more. _Oh no._ "How dare they threaten a helpless creature such as yourself! Show me to this creature and I will put them in their place!"

The pink-haired vampire started to stomp off towards the refreshment table, but Mika quickly stopped her, knowing it would only lead to trouble. "W-wait-!" His shout contained a stutter and quickly broke off when she turned to stare at him, her gaze cold again. He inwardly flinched, his shin throbbing with the phantom pain, before he found the courage to continue. "It was a misunderstanding. I was there, and Yoichi seems to be fine…"

At this, he turned towards the brown-haired boy, hoping that he would say something to sate the Vampire Queen's anger. Yoichi, unknowingly, did just that. "It's alright now. It was my fault initially, but it's done miracles for my fainting spells."

"Is that so?" Her anger completely forgotten, Krul walked over to the boy and, surprisingly enough, wrapped her arms gently around him in a hug, a light blush covering Yoichi's face at the action. Her 'initiation' ceremony started. "Yoichi, was it? You can be my… bat familiar."

"'Bat familiar?'" Both boys in the room repeated the words, Yoichi in confusion and slight embarrassment and Mika in an unknown emotion. He didn't know why, but Krul was hugging Yoichi. He also didn't know why he disliked the action so much, but he did. Krul, maybe taking notice of his expression, continued.

"I've always wanted a familiar, but I've never been able to find one fitting enough. Plus… bats are cute, don't you think?" A small frown appeared on Mika's face as she smirked at him. She was definitely doing this on purpose. As she released the brown-haired boy from her hug, another crucial point appeared in his mind, which was then proven by what the boy said next.

"I'll do the best I can!" Yoichi's enthusiastic reply caused Mika to inwardly sigh; he had forgotten that the bat enjoyed role-playing, which was probably what he thought this exchange was. As they continued their tour, Mika whispered to the boy who was walking happily beside him.

"Yoichi, you know this isn't - ." He started to explain, but stopped at the cold stare Krul gave him from where she was leading. Yoichi didn't seem to see the expression; his gaze was wandering around the gymnasium like he saw it in a new light.

Thinking that it couldn't do much harm, he gave up. They still hadn't found Yu-chan, but having Yoichi around might have put Krul in a better mood. _That means she might not take her wrath out on me as much._ The thought forced Mika to stop walking as the implications of such an idea hit him. He inwardly sighed again, feeling terrible about the situation. _Where are my thoughts even going anymore?_

* * *

 **(1)** Basically, the equivalent of a high school sophomore in Japan, I believe.

Hi everyone! So… I definitely meant to upload this chapter last December, but it just kept getting longer and longer, so that didn't happen. So… um… it's a few months late. Oops~! I hope you all enjoy this anyway (and I hope someone is actually still reading this…)! This chapter was mainly on Mitsuba and Yoichi, with the POV being from the former. I was originally going to make the chapter in Yoichi's point of view, but then thought it would be really inconvenient with him fainting so much… Plus, we have a check-up with Mika and Krul! I know we haven't seen them for a bit, so I figured I would put that in after much debate. So… next chapter is with Kimizuki and a few of the demons in the series (I know we haven't seen them much, but I was saving them for that chapter~). Also, sorry if Lacus and Rene are a bit OOC… They aren't seen in the series much, and I think I might have made Lacus act a bit like Heishi from Norn9… :p Either way, I will see you all in the next chapter!

~AnimeWolfGirl9


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